The Verizon HTC Merge? It's a Christmas miracle!

Tired of waiting on the Verizon Samsung Galaxy Nexus? Could we, perhaps, interest you in another sought-after Verizon smartphone that was all rendered extinct without ever really being launched?

What you see here, according to AllTechEverything, is an ad from a newspaper (ask your parents) in Greensboro, N.C. And at the bottom of that pyramid there is a $49 buy-one-get-two-free offer for none other than the Verizon HTC Merge.

Verizon XYBOARD tablets available now online, in stores Monday

Oddly named Xoom 2 sells for $429 to $729

Update: Verizon now says you can get the Xyboard in stores starting Dec. 12.

Not sure if you can get them in stores yet (all signs point to no), but the new Droid XYBOARD tablets -- those are Verizon's horribly named 10-inch Motorola Xoom 2 and 8.2-inch Xoom 2 Media Edition -- are available now on Big Red's website. The 8.2-inch version starts at $429 for 16GB of storage or $529 for 32GB. The 10.1-incher's going for $529 for 16GB, $629 for 32Gb or a whopping $729 for 64GB.

Remember that they're launching with Android 3.2 but will be upgraded to Ice Cream Sandwich.

Samsung wins Galaxy Tab fight in Australia

In the great battle of Apple v. Samsung, Apple has now lost the battle in Australia. The High Court of Australia has ruled that Apples case lacks merit, meaning Samsung is now in the clear to sell the tablet as it sees fit. Samsung has confirmed the Galaxy Tab 10.1 will go on sale in time for the holidays in Australia now that things have been straightened out legally.

Apple did fight the ruling, stating the Federal Court of Australia failed to adequately take into account the scope of the previous judgement but despite that disagreement, the High Court justices ruled that the application for special leave be denied and that Apple pay Samsung's legal costs. Again, not the last we'll hear of things but no matter -- Samsung is going ahead.

Team Hydro Bootmanager coming soon, puts an end to bootloops forever [hacking]

Ever do something you shouldn't have whilst hacking away at your phone, and end up stuck in a bootloop? Of course you have, because we all have. That will soon be a thing of the past, thanks to the Team Hydro Bootmanager. Usually getting to your Android device's bootloader menu or recovery menu involves mashing and holding buttons, pulling batteries, or in the case of some phone (looking at you LG Optimus Black) a bit of luck because there are no button combinations that work. This jewel resides in the boot image on your phone, pauses the boot-up, and lets you choose how you want to proceed. According to lead developer Drew Walton, it works great, it's stable, will run on just about any phone, and will be ready for public consumption very soon.

*Spoiler alert* Drew is also pretty sure he will be able to expand this, using custom recovery builds (like ClockWorkMod recovery) and create a bootmanager with more options. This would of course be more device specific and less portable, but offer a new way to manage your device. You normal, well adjusted users out there may not be as excited as we hacker types are, but all you crack flashers know just how cool this one will be. I can't wait!

GB vs. ICS, Wallpaper scrolling [From the Forums]

With some new software to play with and updates rolling out, it's been a busy week thus far here on Android Central. If you missed out on anything from today, make sure you get caught up on all the happenings. If you're seeking some Android help or just want to chat -- hit up the forums for more.

Update for the Droid Bionic imminent, rolling out "soon"

The Motorola Droid Bionic is set to receive a fairly substantial update, said to fix connectivity issues and a number of various bugs. Software version 5.5.893, which totals 54.5 MB, improves data stability, increases the Mobile Hotspot capacity to eight devices, and fixes media playback via Bluetooth, just to name a few tweaks. The full list of improvements is available at the source link (there’s more than the image above leads you to believe), as are detailed instructions for both the manual and OTA update process. As always, we suggest you sit tight if you’re not seeing it just yet, as this sort of thing is often slow to roll out.

T-Mobile G2X Gingerbread update available again - maybe the third time's the charm

T-Mobile and LG have announced that the Gingerbread update for the T-Mobile G2X is once again rolling out, after a couple of failed attempts. At first you had to use the LG desktop software to install it, then we saw a limited OTA which was halted, and now we see another OTA. Hopefully, all the issues are ironed out and all of us who bought one of these can enjoy a more current OS. If you're impatient and don;t want to wait for the OTA, you can manually apply the update via the LG updater tool -- hit the links below for more info. As one of the best built Android phones ever, with the great Tegra 2 game heavy chipset, we're happy to see it with almost current software. Now bring on the Ice Cream Sandwich!

YouMail yanked from Android Market, points finger at T-Mobile

The beloved visual voicemail app YouMail has been pulled from the Android Market, which eplains the big "URL was not found" that sits in the place where the app formerly occupied. Rather than rolling over and accepting defeat, YouMail developers shot back, claiming that Google pulled the app without warning due to a complaint filed by T-Mobile. It appears that T-Mobile cried foul, saying that YouMail was causing network disruption, a claim that the YouMail team adamantly denies on its blog. You can read YouMail's passionate response at the source link below, but until all three parties make nice, you'll have to download YouMail straight from the horse's mouth, or at the Amazon Appstore.

Android Central on Google Currents

Now that Google's announced its Currents project, it's time to let you in on a little secret.

It's pretty darn awesome.

We've been experimenting with Currents (neé Propeller) for some weeks now on its road to launch. At its heart, it's very much a Flipboard competitor, if you've ever seen or used the excellent iPad application. The consumer-facing side of Currents is a magazine-like look and feel, as powerful offline as it is when connected to the Internet. From the back end, it's basically just pulling in RSS feeds and displaying them in a custom UI, and you can have it up an running in just minutes through the web-based (natch) Google Studio.

This isn't just some cookie-cutter operation, though. There are plenty of apps like that in the Android Market, and, frankly, many of them suck. Currents's strength comes from its simplicity. It's easy to set up and maintain, and the app has a simple and attractive user interface. Toss in that it's pretty customizable, and you've got the makings of a strong platform, and one that's ready to go out of the box at launch.

So why call it a Flipboard competitor, when Flipboard's only available on iOS? Because when you create an edition in Currents, you're simultaneously creating for Android smartphones. And tablets. And the iPhone. And the iPad. And you can preview each platform on the fly, as you work. Bad news for most of the world, though -- Currents is U.S.-only for now.

Google today has finally unwrapped its long-rumored news magazine competitor to Flipboard on iOS. Called Currents and available on Android smartphones and tablets, along with the iPhone and iPad, it's a finger-friendly way to sort through the latest news on a wide variety of subjects, much easier on the eye and the brain than sifting through pure RSS feeds.

The best part is that as easy as it is to read in Currents, it's just as easy to set up -- all you need are RSS feeds. Bad news for most of the world, though -- Currents is U.S.-only for now.

Check out Google's demo video and get the download link for Currents after the break.

Barnes & Noble have teamed up with Rovio to celebrate Angry Birds’ second birthday. Starting Dec. 11, the first-ever Birds & Noble Scavenger Hunt and various other activities will take place at over 700 Barnes & Noble locations Nationwide.

Everyone is invited to come partake in the activities that include coloring or high score contests, design your own Angry Birds character, Angry Birds Parades and guessing games with some great prizes to be had as well including special hidden Mighty Eagle tokens, the grand prize -- an Angry Birds t-shirt.

“We are thrilled that Rovio has chosen Barnes & Noble as an official U.S. Angry Birds partner, and are excited to celebrate the Angry Birds’ second birthday on December 11 with a range of exclusive in-store activities,” said Jamie Iannone, President of Digital Products, Barnes & Noble. “Angry Birds is one of our bestselling NOOK Apps, and we are proud to offer customers the full collection of Angry Birds games optimized for NOOK Tablet and NOOK Color.” -- You all can find more info past the break,

Instagram for Android finally (and still) in development

iPhone photo sharing application Instragram has become a massive success, and the source of envy for many of the Android faithful. For the first time though, their Chief Executive Kevin Systrom no less, has confirmed what many of us have been waiting for. Instagram for Android is currently in development.

At the LeWeb conference in Paris, Systrom said, "we have two people working on Android now," Sadly though he didn't offer any timeframe as to when the work may be complete.

OnLive gaming launched for Android, free game included

Popular cloud gaming service OnLive today launched its Android offering for smartphones and tablets, bringing a free game along with it in the form of Lego Batman. For anyone not familiar, this is no mobile offering -- the cloud service offers up full console games to play in the cloud. Currently the Android app is available in the UK and US.

There are around 25 games at present that can be played using a touchscreen, with another 200 that can be played using the OnLive wireless controller, which goes on sale Dec. 9 for around £40/$50. With a tablet and a controller, you effectively get a mobile games console. The service offers cross platform compatability, meaning your progress will be available on all your devices, and it also gives you the chance to engage in multiplayer activity against your iOS and desktop playing friends.

There is an official device compatibility list, but it's important to note that it'll most likely work without a hitch on other devices. For example, the Galaxy Nexus is absent, but it works just fine, as does the Nexus S.

The OnLive app requires at least Android 2.3 Gingerbread and has been tested on the following devices: